Cual Versus Que

Question

I am confused when to use which. For example is it qual dia vas a venir or que dia va a venir?

Answer 1

which = cuál (election)

what = qué (info)

Edit:

Context is everything. Let's see if I can represent this correctly in your English minds.

You are talking with a friend and there has been some talk about your friend coming over on Wednesday or Friday. So you ask naturally, Which day are you going to come in?

Same situation but no day has been talked about, then the question is What day are you coming in?

Correct?

¿Cuál equípo ganó ? Creo que chile . ¿qué te parece? Chileno, - ray76, Jun 12, 2014

I mean between Chile and the Australians , it is not really our game mate. - ray76, Jun 12, 2014

Correct....what do you mean is not your game? I know you rank low in the world ranking, but you made it to the cup! All teams are important. - chileno, Jun 12, 2014

I forgot to add that it seems you're denying your roots? ;-D - chileno, Jun 19, 2014

Answer 2

Hola mi estimado amigo primero déjame aclarar que no es "qual" si no "cual".

What is Que (Qué)---- Where is Donde (Dónde) ----- When is Cuando----- Who is Quien (Quién)------ Why is Por qué------- Which is Cual-----

Atentamente un mexicano que sabe un poco de Inglés.

:) - ian-hill, Jun 12, 2014

Answer 3

Hello Edsteig,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You wrote,

I am confused when to use which.For example is it qual dia vas a venir or que dia va a venir?

¿Qué .........? = what ¿Cuál .........? which

¿Cuál día vas a venir? / ¿Qué día vas a venir? =Which day are you coming/going to come? (literal)

You can use either/both in this case as Gex says

¿Cuál ......? and ¿Qué .....? are usually used differently but there may be occasions when either word could be used, as in Gex's example,

Qué is used idiomatically in expressions such as:

¡Qué genial! (Spain) =That's great ¡Qué estupendo! = That's wonderful!

¡Qué terrible! = That's terrible!

Please note that the word que without the accent means that not what?

eg: No entiendo lo que me dices = I don't understand what you are saying to me..(lit: that which you are saying)

Cuál is usually used when there is a choice between two or more options:

eg: ¿Cuál es tu color preferido (favorito)? = What is your favourite colour?

¿Cuál de éstos libros es el tuyo? = Which of these books is yours?

¿Cuál es el mejor modo hacerlo? / ¿Cuál es la mejor manera hacerlo? =What is the best way to do it?

I hope this helps

Answer 4

Con respecto a la discusión entre SpanishSkypeorg y Chileno, aunque no se usa mucho en este sentido en España, la RAE acepta “cuál” antes de un sustantivo.

http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=cuál

cuál. Palabra tónica que, a diferencia de cual (? cual), se escribe con tilde. Su plural es cuáles. Deben evitarse las formas populares o rurales cuálo(s), cuála(s), impropias del habla culta. Presenta los siguientes valores:

4 Antepuesto a un sustantivo, funciona como adjetivo interrogativo. En ese caso equivale a qué (? qué), y su uso es mucho más frecuente en América que en España: «—Queremos ver a la muchacha. —¿Cuál muchacha?» (Fuentes Cristóbal [Méx. 1987]); «Oyó hablar a las primas con naturalidad de cuáles parejas de la familia seguían haciendo el amor» (GaMárquez Amor [Col. 1985]); «Sabía de cuál imbécil me estaba hablando» (Grandes Edades [Esp. 1989]).

There is no discussion between him and me. I just don;t like Spanish learners to go blind with rules, if you know what I mean. - chileno, Jun 19, 2014

Your comment under the post asks that that user check the rules. There is no documentation of the outcome of that, so I am simply posting something to note that the rules per RAE state that you are correct. - - bosquederoble, Jun 19, 2014

Otherwise people reading this thread in which two native speakers are saying different things might not know who to believe. - bosquederoble, Jun 19, 2014

Exactly. It is very difficult for members who are trying to learn the language when they see information that actually is not correct. Thanks. - rac1, Jun 19, 2014

That all being said, I normally do not use “cuál” before a noun, because I know that many Spaniards think it is not correct grammar. - bosquederoble, Jun 19, 2014

Please, read my edit. - chileno, Jun 20, 2014

Answer 5

¿Cual día vas a venir? is the same for ¿Que día vas a venir?

Por que la información solicitada es el día, así que no hay problema por como lo digas en esta ocasión.

Answer 6

Actually, there is a rule that says you can not use "cuál" or ¨cuáles" + noun, so ¨cuál día" is not correct if we follow the grammar rules. In Spain we`d never say ¨cuál+noun" but in some countries in Latin America people usually don´t follow this rule and it´s common to use ¨cuál+noun".

I hope this helps!

That's wrong info.... or understanding of the rules. Check that up again, please. It actually depends on the context. Can you please put a link to where it says that? Thanks - chileno, Jun 12, 2014

See my entry. R A E accepts ¨cuál+noun". - bosquederoble, Jun 19, 2014

Please supply a link or some information to verify what you are saying as requested. This will clear up any confusion to members learning Spanish. Thanks. - rac1, Jun 19, 2014

See my edit please and let me know if you need info than that. :) - chileno, Jun 20, 2014